Monthly Archives: May 2008

Scientist in Sweden have proved that large swaths of people in the world have a genetic disposition that allows them to beat the urine test for testosterone.

Study found that some people do not have copies of a gene that converts injected testosterone into a detectable trail in urine. Among that group of people rests two-thirds of the world’s Asian population.

Individuals with a specific gene variant are not exposed by a conventional test for performance enhancing drugs. Research has shown that these individuals do not secrete steroids in their urine to the same extent as others. Approximately ten percent of all Swedes and the majority of the East Asian population carry this gene.

Jenny Jakobsson Schulze recently completed her thesis on the effect of genetic factors on the variation of masculine sex steroids concentration in urine and blood between individuals. She was one of the researchers involved in this study. “It has been known for a while that the level of testosterone in urine varies amongst the population, but we are the first to show that the differences can be related to genetic variations,” she explains.

The study, conducted at the Karolinska Institute, Sweden, shows that 40 percent of the people who carry double copies of a particular gene variant do not reach the limit used to trace illicit testosterone preparations even though they have been administered a single dosage of the hormone.

The most common test for anabolic androgen steroids measures the levels of the testosterone hormone and epitestosterone in urine. This is because it is difficult to differentiate between natural and synthetic testosterone. As the epitestosterone level does not vary from person to person the quotient of the two steroids is used to determine if the body has been administered extra testosterone. The testosterone-epitestosterone quotient is normally circa 1,0. If it is higher than 4 the individual is suspected of doping and is subjected to further tests.

Jenny Jakobsson Schulzes’s study now shows that nearly half of those carrying two copies of the mutated gene would not be exposed in a regular doping test. The results also show that people with only one set of the gene measured levels just over the limit.

he gene in question, mutated in some, plays an important role when testosterone is to be emitted through urine. It codes the enzyme that adds a molecule to the testosterone and makes it water soluble. The testosterone level in blood, however, remains the same, irrespective of gene mutation. Researchers still do not know if the mutated gene has any health consequences. “One hypothesis that we would like to investigate, is that people with the mutated gene variant are more strongly affected by anabolic androgen steroids since the testosterone seems to stay in the body for a longer period of time,” states Jenny Jakobsson Schulze.

The mutated variant of the gene exists in around ten percent of the Swedish population and in 70 percent of the population in Asian countries, including China, Japan, and Korea.

These people could thus take steroids without being found out by the conventional urine test. But there are other techniques that could expose the cheaters. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is therefore debating changing the doping tests. “Now that this gene variant is identified we may be able to reveal more cases of testosterone doping by carrying out further tests,” says Thomas Murray, Chairman of WADA’s ethical committee. He emphasizes, however, that the study only shows that testosterone emission is less effective in people carrying the mutated gene. How the break down of other synthetic steroids is affected remains unclear. “Further studies are needed to determine the importance of this discovery,” states Thomas Murray.

Jenny Jakobsson Schulz has also found other genes with a possible effect on doping tests, but none showed as clear an effect as the gene in question. One of the genes, however, could serve to explain some cases of false positive results as it affects the level of epitestosterone in urine. A lower than normal level of epitestosterone results in a higher quotient in doping tests. Such mistakes are cleared when other control tests are carried out, but it still means extra work and unnecessary worry for the person being tested.

Jakobsson Schulze now wants to proceed with her research. “This was a pilot study. We will proceed with a larger study including more people and higher dosages,” she explains.

“I had been receiving medication because I had been injured,” he says. “I went to the doctor and my levels of testosterone were low, so he prescribed medication. At no point did I ever go out and buy drugs on an Internet pharmacy. My doctor went on the Internet. I had no idea where they were coming from.”

(It is abnormal for a man Kennedy’s age to have low testosterone).

“Look at me. I’m not a big jacked-up guy. In small doses, they can be good for you. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I will never make that mistake again. It was a rough part in my life. It sucked being suspended.”

Every once in a while, all of us do dream of the day wherein we can walk into any room we wanted and anyone inside would not hesitate to say, ‘That’s a hot body!’ Of course, we all know that we may not all have Paris Hilton’s hot body, evident in her Carl’s Jr. commercial, nor a physique like Brandon Routh, which is the guy who played Superman recently, but we might as well dream big. Am I not right?

Though seriously, this is the same philosophy that made the Health and Fitness Industry gross to more than $15 billion in revenue. People would like to look good or feel good in trying to look good. By this, many people sign up for health and fitness programs that will provide them the feeling of security that at least someday we may achieve a beautiful and healthy body. And for those who achieve the most coveted physique, then kudos for your hard-work.

Now a business man would think after the reading the facts above, ‘Who are these people who will pay possibly ludicrous amount of money just to look and feel good with themselves?’, or a better question would be, ‘What should be the target market for my gym business?’ If that is the case, then we will show you the target market for a gym business.

Normally, we would say that men go more to the gym than women do. However, that seems to contradict the present statistics. Believe it or not, 57% of gym and health club members presently are females. This is possibly the reason why health clubs exclusive to women are becoming a successful trend in the health and fitness industry. This also indicates that women are more attuned to a healthy lifestyle than men do. So a female target market for a gym today is the way to go.

Now, a statistic for gym and health club members based on age shows that 35% are still in the range of 18 to 34 years old. This is expected since young people are more conscious with their physical attributes compared to other age groups. But shockingly, 33% of gym and health club members are from the age 35 to 54,

while a substantial 20% of members ages 55 and above. This indicates that the target market for a gym, based on age, is from ages 18 to 55. So a gym business owner must cater to the specific needs of these individuals to attain customer loyalty. An accurate way to know what the target market wants is to do a survey.

Another figure representing gym memberships by annual income still shows that 50% of members have annual income of $75,000, while a noted 19% has annual income of $25,000 to $49,999. This shows that the gym memberships are still distributed throughout a wide-margin in the population; where middle-class citizens are still interested in joining a gym if membership costs will go down. This proves that the target market for a gym business can be widened if costs can be lowered enough.

In summary, a business man who knows his target demographic but does not know how to effectively market his products and/or services to the known targets will not be able to garner the expected maximum revenue compared to a marketing strategy that was deemed to be a success. However, a successful marketing strategy will not benefit you in the long run if you cannot maintain customer loyalty. If this is the case, the people who signed up for your gym will just transfer to other gyms catering to the same demographic. So knowing the target market for your gym coupled with a good marketing strategy, high-quality of service and excellent management will assure the success of your gym business.

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